Hold On 'til May
by Fairytailanimefan
Summary: Title inspired by Pierce the Veil. GaLu AU. The first time Gajeel saw her, she was driving an expensive as hell pearl white tesla.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Before you read this, I'd just like to warn you that I'm awful at updating in a timely fashion. It's a bitch for me. If I seem to be inactive for a while, comment for me to upload the next chapter because I will most likely have it done and I'm just being lazy because I am an awful human being :)**

 **If you're dissatisfied with this story, I'd recommend heading over to leoslady4ever's page because their stories introduced me to this addictive crackship, and their stories are absolutely brilliant and probably 3000x better than this one**

 **If you do decide to stick around, please enjoy and I do appreciate constructive criticism!**

 _Chapter One:_

The first time Gajeel saw her, she was driving an expensive as hell pearl white tesla.

He was working at the family auto shop, as he always was after school, and a friend of his (sorta) friend Erza had called for a tow. His dad, Metalicana, went to pick the girl up. Her little blue VW bug (that perfectly matched the hue of the girl's hair) wouldn't start.

Gajeel wanted to claw his (glorious long black) hair out.

The engines of the volkswagon bugs were _extremely_ hard to get to. Usually only the manufacturer fixed em, but his old man offered a much cheaper price to do the same (super difficult) job.

Naturally, he pawned the car off on Gajeel and left him to it.

The owner of the bug was a shrimp named Levy. He had met her a few times before, but she went to Kardia Academy, which was the rich kid school a few blocks from his own school, Magnolia High. He rarely saw the kids that went there, usually because they hung in different groups. Also, half of them were scared of him because he had a handful of piercings on his face, give or take. But Erza had been friends with Levy since they were kids, and Gajeel had known the redhead for about sixteen years now. It was inevitable that he'd become acquainted with the shrimp.

"So what's wrong with it?" the bluenette curiously sat on a stool next to him as he maneuvered himself around the engine, poking a few things and tightening some screws.

"Well first off, brake line is leaking." he grunted. People _always_ ignored this problem it seemed.

"Yeah, my friend Lucy told me to get that fixed." she sighed. "What else?"

"Starter motor is also shot. I'm gonna have to order a replacement." he pushed himself out from under the ugly bug, wiping his hands on a grease rag. He probably had oil all over his face, but what was new with that?

"How much will that cost?" when he told her the answer, she winced. "Crap. I'm gonna have to ask my folks for the money."

"What, rich girls don't just snap their fingers and get what they want? Gihi." he teased the girl.

"Oh, hush up. You _know_ I'm there on a scholarship, you came to my celebration party." the girl groaned, but laughed at the end of it. "Besides, I bought my baby myself. My car, my responsibility… unless I can't afford a tune-up." she sighed.

"Well, you can get a job to help pay for it." he decided some friendly advice would do well.

"I've got one at the bookstore. Problem is, I spend my paycheck there before I can save it!" she laughed again.

"Yeah I don't got that problem." Gajeel worked every day because his dad asked him to, unfortunately. But he got to save up all the money for college, and his dad paid for his gas and even got him a discount on a sexy black truck that Gajeel pimped out himself.

"Well, Lucy should be here in a minute." Levy sighed again.

"I'll open the garage door. Do you wanna have an official estimate?" the dark haired boy asked the tiny girl.

"I suppose it would be good to know how much I need to beg for." the bluenette groaned. As soon as Gajeel punched the red button to open the garage door, his jaw dropped. Idling just outside was a sexy pearl white tesla with shiny black rims.

"Holy shit." he muttered, raking his eyes along the exterior of the car.

"Oh, there's Lucy!" Levy popped up, racing over to the passenger side. She opened the door, having a short discussion with the driver before she shut it again, hopping over to the mechanic once again. "I told her she can just come with me to the office to get my estimate." she smiled. Gajeel watched, starstruck as the drivers side door opened and a blonde head popped up. His gawking didn't stop there. As the blonde sauntered around the front end of the car, he ogled her just as much as he did to her car, raking over her endless legs and curvaceous figure.

"How's blueberry?" the blonde had a lilting voice and big brown eyes that glimmered gold in the light, nearly matching the hue of her hair.

"Blueberry?" Gajeel nearly smacked himself for sounding like an idiot.

"Yeah, it's what Levy calls her bug." the blonde had a cute laugh, Gajeel noted.

"She's not doing great." Levy sighed. "I'm gonna have to do _so many_ chores. Aw man! I can't believe it." she whined.

"Yeah, yeah, I know your pain." Lucy giggled at her pouting face. "Ah, is this Erza's mechanic friend?" the blonde perked up as she scrutinized Gajeel.

"Oh! Gajeel, meet Lucy, officially. I'm sure you both have heard of each other from yours truly." Levy grinned at the two, and they shook hands. He was impressed when the blonde didn't wipe the oil from her palm.

"Okay, so estimate?" the black haired mechanic offered to Levy.

"Yeah yeah, let's get my nightmare over with." Levy muttered, stalking towards the office door.

"That bad?" Lucy winced, speaking softly to Gajeel.

"Unfortunately. There's only so much of a friends and family discount." Gajeel grunted as they followed. He went behind the counter and punched in the buttons, placing the order for the part. When he told her the official estimate, Levy slammed her forehead against the counter.

"I'm gonna cry!" she groaned, and Lucy placed a reassuring grin on her back.

"Okay, okay, wanna go sit in the car? I think I'm going to grab an air freshener, my old one ran dry." Lucy ushered the girl towards the door, handing her the tesla's key fob (it was shaped like a _miniature freaking car_ ) and returning to the main part of the store.

"Any particular scent?" Gajeel asked as the girl sniffed at one of the under-the-seat ones.

"Vanilla." she brought it over and placed it on the counter. Lucy looked back towards the door and sighed.

"Anything else you need?" the black haired mechanic asked.

"Levy's bill." the girl brought out an American Express Black card, the kind with no limit. Gajeel's jaw dropped.

"You-are you serious? That's a helluva lot of money." he stuttered out.

"My dad won't mind. He likes Levy." she shrugged.

"I don't know if the Shrimp will let me do this." he shook his head at her.

"She doesn't have to know just yet. I know prom is around the corner and she's already got to save up for that, so I'll just say this is an early birthday gift." Lucy gave a sheepish smile.

"I'm putting this down as refundable." Gajeel punched a few more buttons before bringing Levy's estimate up and adding it to her previously one dollar air freshener bill.

"I won't refund it." she swiped her card, not even flinching, and plucked the receipt from the machine. "This is our secret for now, okay?" she winked at him.

"Y-yeah. Sure." he muttered as she sauntered out, her vanilla air freshener still on the counter. He glanced down at it as she left before he grabbed it and hauled ass out after her. Shrimp looked miserable in the front seat, and the blonde driver was already in the car, a circular pair of shades already on her face. He jogged over and knocked on the Shrimp's window, waiting for it to roll down.

"Yeah?" Levy questioned.

"Forgot this." he grunted out, handing the stupid thing over. Lucy's cheeks gained a bit of color as Levy bust out laughing. "See ya." he backed off, going back in the garage door and shutting it. He leaned against the wall, scrutinizing the blue bug. "What kind of chick spends _that much money_ on her friend for no reason?" he questioned aloud.

He had no idea what mayhem this girl would bring to his life.


	2. Chapter 2

"Lucy!" Levy stormed up to her best friend before school one day. The blonde had just parked her car in the junior lot, Levy only two spots away.

"Yes?" she tried to act innocent, but knew it was futile.

"Ignoring my texts, my calls - _You can't just pay my bills for me!_ " the bluenette's face was reddening.

"Levy, it's fine! I wanted to. You can pay back half if you want, but the other half gets to go towards your prom expenses." Lucy knew how much her friend was looking forward to the dance in a few months to come. The theme hadn't yet been announced, but girls had already gotten their dresses and hair appointments scheduled. As long as they had the date, they could be prepared.

"Lu, this is the last time I'm letting you do stuff like this. And I'm paying off half! I promise! The other half will come after prom." Levy mentioned the dance that would be on May sixth. She stuck out her lower lip before straightening her blazer. "Okay, time for school?" Levy asked, getting over her anger pretty quickly.

"Yeah seems like a good idea." the blonde joked, locking her car and hoisting her bag higher on her shoulder.

"Oh! I almost forgot, tomorrow night Erza's friend Mirajane is having a party and Erza wants us to come so we can meet all her friends." Erza was one of Levy's friends that quickly became one of Lucy's best friends as well. The three enjoyed doing anything they could together, whether it be shopping or going to cafe's for cake sampling.

"I'll have to ask my dad." Lucy was a bit wary of asking her father. As of late, Jude Heartfilia was a bit more strict on her going out with unfamiliar people. She really couldn't blame him, for she was wary herself.

"Oh, don't worry, once he hears I'll be there he'll jump for joy!" Levy joked, but secretly the pair knew Levy was right. Levy was Lucy's first actual friend, her having been homeschooled until freshman year of high school. He held a soft spot for the bluenette in his heart.

The two teens made it through their day without anything special happening, other than Levy flirting with Jet, but then again what was new with that. Levy had a _gigantic_ crush on the track star, and he had one on her as well. Lucy thought they were the perfect couple, and would probably place a bet that he would ask her to prom wayyyy in advance.

When Lucy got home, it was a bit quiet. Lucy's father was a business tycoon, and he worked hard to keep his daughter living a cushy life. She had a college fund with thousands of dollars all set up and a retirement fund half filled already. Her father's saving habits were immensely effective, but he was also very generous with treating his workers and even Lucy's friends. When she told him about paying Levy's bill, he waved off the loss of "pocket change" (as he called it). He spoiled his daughter, but raised her right, the death of his wife giving him extra incentive to be the best father he could be. Lucy couldn't ask for a better parent.

"Papa!" the blonde hung her coat up next to the door. She lived in a large estate in the suburbs, so it was kind of hard to find the only other person that lived there in its expanse. She called out his name again before finding him in the living room.

"Hello sweetheart!" he stood, setting the book he was reading facedown on the table. Lucy recognized it as one of the novels her mother had written. Lucy smiled sadly at the memory of her mom, a bestselling author and award winning mother. "How was school?" he pulled her into a hug, and she squeezed him back.

"It was good! I tutored a bit during free block, so now I think that Sting will get his chemistry grade up to play the rest of the season." Sting Eucliffe, an acquaintance of hers, was captain of the basketball team. After failing a quiz in chemistry he had to sit out for two games. Kardia Academy's basketball team lost those two games. As soon as Sting's grade went back up to a C he could play again, so Lucy had been tutoring him the whole week. "Oh! Erza invited Levy and I to go to a get-together at her friend Mirajane's house." Lucy remembered.

"Mirajane…?" he prodded.

"Strauss. She goes to Magnolia High, but you've met her before. We had her over for a sleepover, the time when we put that avocado face mask on you." Lucy supplied the funny memory to help him remember the white-haired beauty.

"Oh! Yes, and her brother was the one who offered to beat up any boy for you. I like that family." her father beamed. Lucy rolled her eyes. "You can go, as long as he's there."

"He lives there." another eyeroll. "Of course he'll be there." Lucy kissed her father's cheek and sprinted up the stairs, opening the door to her room so she could kick off her shoes and text Levy the good news.

Gajeel's Friday couldn't pass quickly enough. He was bored out of his mind in his calculus class, not understanding half the words that spewed from his instructors mouth. He knew that as soon as this last class was over it would be four o'clock, the end of the day, and then he'd be off to Mira's to help set up. He asked for the night off from the auto shop just for the occasion. _Nobody_ in their friend group was allowed to skip a party.

"Psst." his pink haired cousin whispered to him.

"What." he grunted, low enough that the teacher didn't hear.

"Apparently Mira's gonna do one of her _matchmaker schemes_ tonight." Natsu, the boy with pink (he insisted it was salmon) hair groaned quietly.

"She's _not_ roping me into that shit again." he hissed, and that was the end of their conversation. The bell rang and the two shot out of the classroom like bats outta hell.

"Last time she made Lisanna sit on my lap! It was so embarrassing." the pinkette groaned.

"She ran outta girls to pair me with. Gihi." his dark eyes flashed with amusement as Natsu whined more.

"Apparently, Erza invited a few more girls." Natsu smirked.

"No way. Shit!" Gajeel groaned as they left the school grounds, approaching the parking lot where his truck was. Gajeel drove his cousin to and from school (they lived in houses directly next to each other, it was more efficient this way). So naturally, he was Natsu's ride to the party.

"Well, maybe I'll get paired up with someone else!" Natsu said cheerily.

"Yeah I hope I get left out." the mechanic said bluntly.

Unfortunately for Gajeel, he was not left out.

The party started promptly at six-thirty, when Mira brought out a huge amount of pizzas that she had ordered. There were about nine for the small group. Those who were there (so far; Erza's two mystery guests not coming until a little later) were Erza, Elfman, Lisanna, Gray (a good frenemy), Mira, Laxus (Mirajane's boyfriend), Natsu, and Gajeel. It was their usual group for hanging out, occasionally their friend Cana would stop by with some booze and her boyfriend Bacchus. There were a few others who flitted in and out of the group, but overall it was a good group to hang out with.

"So who are the new girls that are joining up with us?" Gray asked Erza, curious.

"Some good friends from Kardia Academy." Erza grabbed three slices of pizza and plated them, walking to Mirajane's living room and sitting on the floor.

"Oh." Gajeel instantly knew who she was talking about. "Shrimp and blondie?"

"Yes! Lucy and Levy are sooooo sweet, I love them both to bits!" Mirajane gushed as she poured everyone some glasses of lemonade.

"Wait how does grease-monkey know em?" Natsu complained.

"Oi! Shut up, pinky." Gajeel grunted before stuffing a slice of pizza in his mouth.

"Gajeel is fixing Levy's car." Erza supplied before taking a dainty bite.

"Fixed." the mechanic corrected. The bluenette had come to pick her car up two days prior, and he had to break the news that her bill was paid in full. The Shrimp was _pissed_. Erza's silver cell phone lit up with a text, and she read the little blurb on the lock screen before swallowing her food.

"They're just pulling up." the redhead announced, standing and approaching the front door. She opened it, revealing Levy with her arm raised, about to knock.

"Oh! Hello, everyone!" the bluenette waved as she noticed everyone staring from the living room.

"I parked in front of the driveway, is that okay? I have to leave at ten thirty, so I'll probably be the first to go." Lucy's voice drifted in from outside. Gajeel shivered, must've been a draft from the open door.

"Come in, come in!" Mira flounced over to the door and yanked two pale hands inside. Levy and Lucy both looked pretty normal, in his opinion, but there were a series of people who took sharp intakes of breath at their appearances. Gajeel couldn't help but look appreciatively at the blonde again, his eyes raking up and down her body, which was hidden slightly behind Levy. All that Mira saw, however, was Gajeel checking out Levy, and so the gears in her head began to turn and her matchmaker schemes had a new and improved pairing in mind.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Before you all read this chapter, I'd just like to address that I'm not a huge fan of overly dramatic writing. Yes, I do anticipate (and have written) some conflict in this story, but there's not gonna be a whole lot of "shit hitting the fan" so to speak. Sorry to disappoint anyone who likes that type of writing, but I'd rather have this be as drama free as possible while still keeping it interesting (in my opinion). Thanks and enjoy!**

"Hi!" Lucy chirped with her usual bright smile, her eyes scanning the room, brightening when they landed on Gajeel.

"Hey Lucy." he nodded at her.

"Gajeel! I didn't know you were coming!" she and Levy took seats on either side of him. Gray stared at the spectacle, his mouth gaping open. He just couldn't understand how two super popular girls had actually approached the pierced, mean-looking mechanic. Gajeel shot him a sharp glare before addressing his two new friends.

"I didn't know you were gonna be here either." he replied.

"Well, hi everyone else!" Lucy waved to the rest of the group. "I'm Lucy, and this is Levy." she introduced them.

"I'm Gray." the black haired teen said.

"Hey guys! It's good to see you again." Lisanna smiled.

"Levy! Lucy! You two look manly!" Elfman complimented them (really weirdly, in Gajeel's opinion). Lucy was wearing a white belly shirt and a pink skirt, leaving her hair loose and shiny. Levy was dressed in a blue vest with white capris, her hair tied back with an orange ribbon. He had no idea why they weren't wearing warmer clothes, the high temperature that week had been a mere sixty eight degrees fahrenheit. So Gajeel had _no_ idea of how either of the girls could look manly.

"I'm Natsu!" the pinkette grinned at them. Mirajane couldn't help but notice that Lucy was eyeing the pyro's open vest, revealing his bare chest underneath.

"Nice seeing you two haven't been scared off by my girlfriend yet." Laxus smirked, he had met the girls on multiple occasions due to them coming into the cafe Mira ran. He and his girlfriend were both a year out of high school, working full time at a restaurant called Fairy Tail.

They all chattered, getting to know the two new arrivals while munching on pizza. Gray flirted with both of them, Laxus acted like Mirajane was the only girl in the world, Gajeel exchanged the barest minimum of words, and Lisanna tried (and failed) to get Natsu to feed her. It was impressionable on the two newcomers, to say the least. Once the pizza was gone and Elfman had stopped shouting 'MAN' at the amount of food the girls had put away, Mirajane's eyes lit up with schemes.

"Now it's time to start the activities!" Mira squealed, causing Gajeel to groan inwardly. She held out a bowl with papers in it. "It's a partner game this time!"

"Partner game?" Lucy questioned as she was passed the dish of papers. She rummaged around before pulling out a white slip with a number on it.

"We're playing match game!" she smiled sweetly. "Well, you guys are. Laxus and I are the ones asking the questions."

"How come we have to and you don't?" Natsu groaned.

"Don't complain." Erza smacked him in the back of the head. Once everyone had a number, they were told to partner up with the person who held the same digit. Gajeel was paired with Levy, Gray with Lisanna, Elfman with Erza, and Natsu with Lucy. (Mira totally rigged it, by the way).

"Okay, the rules are each of you get a pad of paper and a pen. I'll ask a question about your partner, and you must each write down the correct answer. If you get it right, you get a point! If you get it wrong, you each lose a point!" Mirajane explained to her friends.

"What happens if we win?" Gray asked.

"Bragging rights!" she grinned.

"And if we lose?" Natsu gulped.

"Punishment." she had a devious aura that surprised Lucy and Levy, but the rest of the group was used to it by this point. "Now let's start! Everybody sit together with your partner!" Gajeel could tell that Mirajane was eyeing up Natsu and Lucy, scheming up a storm. Levy giggled as she noticed as well.

"That's never gonna happen." Levy whispered to her partner.

"Why's that?" Gajeel grunted, trying to sound disinterested, but couldn't help but feel relief t her words.

"Reasons." Levy smiled sweetly. He shot her a confused look, but the game was starting so he promptly began to pay attention. He did _not_ want to get punished.

"Okay, first question is for the guys to answer about their partners, try to match it, everyone! What is… your partner's favorite color!" Mira cheered at the end. It was silent. Gajeel quickly wrote down blue, paused, crossed it out, and changed it to orange. The Shrimp had worn something orange almost every time he saw her. Plus, she had an orange license plate. That was a telltale sign.

"Aw man! Why is this so hard." Natsu scratched his head, not knowing anything but the name of the girl beside him. She was wearing a white shirt so he quickly wrote _white_ on his paper.

"Everyone ready?" Mira asked, and when everyone nodded they revealed their papers to each other.

Gajeel had gotten his color right, and Levy high fived him with a grin. Elfman wrote down _blue(?)_ and Erza blushed when she revealed he was correct. Everyone knew that she had a crush on Jellal, the blue-haired student council president of Kardia Academy. Gray and Lisanna didn't match; he wrote pink whereas she had written purple. And Natsu wasn't even _close_ with his guess.

"White isn't a color." Lucy sighed down at his paper, lifting up hers which read _pink_ in a neat script.

"Is so!" he challenged. She raised a blonde brow before laughing.

"White is a blend of all the colors."

"No it's not! Black is a blend of all the colors!" he argued with her.

"Black is the absence of color." she corrected him.

"Enough you two! Your team lost the point." Erza scolded.

"Yes ma'am!" they both replied to her, straightening instantly. Gajeel couldn't help but smirk at the blonde, most girls just giggled and agreed with the popular pink-haired boy. It was refreshing to see someone argue with him (other than himself, of course).

"Okay, next question is for the girls to answer about their partners!" Mira said sweetly. "What's your partner's favorite movie?" And so everyone went back to writing furiously. When they were all done again, Mira had them hold up their answers.

"Yes!" Levy squealed; she had chosen _Rocky,_ surprisingly matching him. "There's a poster of him in the movie in the garage." she looked smug at her intelligence.

"It's a classic." he simply shrugged back.

"What?!" Erza was shocked that she had guessed wrong. She wrote down _Citizen Kane_ , but Elfman had written _Skyfall_ , a James Bond movie that came out recently that he couldn't get enough of. "I thought it was _Citizen Kane,_ how could that not be it?" she stared glumly at her paper.

"That's a very manly movie, my second favorite." Elfman grinned.

"Good job Lis!" Gray congratulated his partner. They had both written _Happy Gilmore_. Gray was obsessed with hockey, and he was the captain of their school's team. So Lisanna thought it obvious to write down the only movie she knew had hockey in it.

"Well." Lucy sighed at her paper. "I wasn't expecting much from my guess, but I've never heard of _Enter the Dragon_."

"I can't believe you thought my favorite movie was _Air Bud!_ " Natsu pouted. Lucy began to shriek with laughter at her ridiculous guess.

"Y-you _are_ the captain of Magnolia's basketball team." she stuttered, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

"Eh? How do you know that?" he looked at her suspiciously.

"Our team just played yours two weeks ago - it's _really_ hard not to notice a kid with pink hair that keeps yelling he's 'fired up'." she rolled her eyes at him. Mira's eyes sparkled once again. Gajeel felt kind of uncomfortable.

"Also, you knocked her over during halftime." Levy giggled behind her hand.

"Yeah, there's that too." Lucy began to laugh again.

" _Lucy's the cheerleader you knocked over?!_ " Gray hissed, and Natsu gulped before apologizing profusely. Erza glared.

"Okay, next question! Gajeel and Levy are in the lead!" Mirajane announced. "Guys turn again… okay, what is your partner's favorite thing to eat?" it went silent in the room again. Mirajane was silently giggling to herself by the way that Lucy and Natsu were staring blankly at each other. She was extremely surprised by how Gajeel and Levy were doing, but she was shipping up a storm. This round went a lot faster, and so when they held up their papers Gajeel couldn't help but grin.

"We're on a roll!" Levy high fived the mechanic again, they had both written _chocolate bar._

"It's really hard not to notice the insane stash of chocolate in your center console." Mira eyed the pair again, but they ignored her.

"We're doing better now!" Gray had written down _ice cream_ since he and Lisanna bonded over the treat.

"Yes! Cake is manly!" Elfman got Erza's favorite food right, only because _everyone_ knew what her weakness was. She brought cake to school for lunch every day.

"How is your favorite food _freaking scones?!_ " Natsu was incredulous.

"Why did you even think I liked jalapenos?" she shot back.

"Who doesn't like em? They're the best!" The pink haired boy had an affinity for all things spicy, and assumed everyone else in the world did as well.

"Okay, next question!" Mira announced. They played seven more rounds, and the final standings were surprising for the white-haired matchmaker. Levy and Gajeel scored a perfect ten, who she would have picked to probably lose in the beginning, seeing as they barely had anything in common, and Gray, Lisanna, Erza, and Elfman all tied for second. Lucy and Natsu got a perfect score as well, just… negative. They hadn't gotten one question right, and now they were terrified of what Mira would do to them.

"Lu, it'll be alright!" Levy wanted to be encouraging to her friend. Lucy gave her a fearful look as Mira's face lit up.

"I've got it! The losers have to… switch clothes for one hour!" she shouted. The two teens froze before jumping away from each other.

"I am _not_ wearing his clothes! His shirt isn't even a real shirt, it's a - a - some type of _vest_!" Lucy wailed.

"No way am I putting on a damn skirt! I don't even think that'll fit me!" Natsu protested. But they were dragged by Mira into the bathroom, and when they all returned sure enough they had switched clothes. Lucy sat cross legged, clutching the vest closer to her chest. Mira had pinned it shut, but it was still embarrassing. And when everyone saw Natsu in a white belly shirt and pink mini-skirt, roaring laughter ensued. They lasted the full hour, albeit very upset about it, and when they changed back everyone was disappointed by the lack of skin showing (from both parties). They chatted a bit more until Erza decided they should play the kings game.

That game was even worse than the first, because Erza kept getting the King's stick and making everyone do embarrassing things. She somehow made Lucy change into a bunny outfit for the rest of the night, and the blonde complained about her always having to wear the weird clothes, but nobody could deny how _good_ she looked in it.

Gajeel called her bunny girl to tease her, though. He'd never let her live it down.

Levy was forced to kiss Gajeel on the cheek, Lucy had to hug Natsu for five minutes, Lisanna and Levy had to dance on top of Gray's back, and many, many more horrors occurred that are too terrible to even mention in passing.

By the time they all begged to stop the game, Laxus was wearing a full face of makeup, Levy was wearing her clothes backwards, and Gajeel had his hair forcefully put into cornrows. Not to mention the bunny outfit. Erza was unscathed by the event.

"Well, it's almost time for my curfew." Lucy sighed as she returned from changing yet again. "I had a lot of fun you guys! It was nice meeting you all!"

"Your curfew is eleven?" Natsu snorted. Lucy stiffened.

"So?" her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Natsu, I don't-" Levy began to defend her friend, but Natsu cut her off.

"That's so lame! You scared of the dark or somethin?" he laughed.

"So what if I am? It's none of your business why I have an early curfew." Lucy picked up her purse, a cool tone overcoming her voice.

"Lucy, don't get so wound up, he's just joking." Gray frowned at the blonde. She stiffened even further before waltzing out the door.

"Is she-" Gajeel began to ask before Levy hopped up.

"Lu-chan is fine! I'll go talk to her." she scurried out after her friend.

"Is it just me, or does it feel like there's something I should know about?" Gajeel peered at Erza. The redhead simply sighed.

"It is not our place to tell. It is Lucy's father's rule that she always text him what her plans are and be home before eleven. That is all I will say." Erza said stiffly, avoiding the eyes of Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel.

"I'm gonna go check on her." Gajeel mumbled before stepping outside after the two girls. Lucy was sitting on the curb next to her car, face in hands as Levy cooed to her and stroked her back.

"I-I can't believe he's _still_ controlling my life even though he's not around anymore. I just-UGH!" she shouted. Gajeel could only see them from behind, but he knew the blonde was crying from the way she sniffled and wiped at her cheeks.

"Lucy, he's not gonna be the only one. I think you're brave for being the way you are after all that happened." Levy reassured the girl. Gajeel was extremely curious, but he felt like he was intruding on them and quickly retreated back into the house. Everyone inside continued to chat, but Erza, Mira, Elfman and Lisanna all had troubled looks on their faces. Elfman was whispering furiously to Lisanna, and Gajeel couldn't help but overhear.

"I wasn't kidding when I said I'd beat the crap out of him. What he did to Lucy wasn't manly." Elfman growled, his fists clenched at his side. He was a brute of a man, extremely muscular, and Gajeel wouldn't want to be on the other side of all that rage. But _who_ were they talking about? Some crappy ex-boyfriend? Gajeel really wanted to know.

"She'll tell you the whole story someday." Mira appeared next to him with a reassuring smile. "But for now, I think we should call it a night."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the short, kinda filler chapter. Enjoy, R &R, and all that jazz.**

The next time Lucy saw Gajeel, it was a complete surprise. She was doing homework at one of her favorite coffee shops (after all, she did really love fresh scones) when he walked in. He glanced around nonchalantly before he did a double take at her. She waved to him with a smile, and he walked over.

"Come here often?" she joked. He shook his head with a grimace.

"Dad sent me on a coffee run - machine at the shop broke." he offered an explanation.

"Ah, sounds like fun. The shop is a few blocks away though, aren't there any closer coffee shops?"

"This is the one where I get a family discount." he sighed.

"You've got family that works here?" she tilted her head to the side.

"Gajeel!" there was a squeal before Lucy's favorite waitress, Wendy, tackled the mechanic in a hug. The younger girl released him after a short, yet cute, embrace.

"Lucy, this is my cousin. She works here." he supplied.

"Hi again, Miss Lucy!" Wendy greeted the blonde for the second time that day. The younger girl had become her friend in the months that she had been coming there. She was adorable and sweet, super polite, and always helped Lucy with her biology homework. The young girl wanted to be a doctor, so she worked a lot to save up for med school.

"Yeah, Wendy and I are old pals. I come here a lot." Lucy smiled at Gajeel.

"Huh. Small world." he blinked.

"Gajeel, Uncle Metalicana called in his order so I have his coffee ready. You can just take it, I was about to toss the rest to make a new batch so it's on the house!" the cute girl smiled at her cousin, and he gave a grin back before ruffling her hair.

"Thanks, shorty. Tell Romeo I say hi. Gihi." he grinned at his cousin before he left. Wendy smiled at Lucy before leaving her to get back to work.

The next day, Lucy was working at the same table when he walked in again. He went over to the counter and got another coffee from Wendy before he noticed her. This time, his eyes widened a bit before he laughed loudly.

"Honestly I didn't really believe you were a cheerleader until this moment. Somehow, it suits you, bunny girl." he approached her table again. Lucy was wearing a blue and white two piece cheerleading outfit with _Kardia White Knights_ emblazoned across the front.

"If it weren't for that broken coffee machine, I'd think you were coming here just to see me." Lucy leered at the mechanic.

"New one comes in tomorrow. You won't be seeing my face round here for a while." he smirked, kicking the chair across from her out and dropping into it.

"I'll soak up the experience as long as I can." she said dryly, but cleared some of her papers out of his way.

"Calculus? Chemistry? Wow, a real scholar over here." he leafed through a few papers.

"Who do you think tutors Erza so she can keep her grades up for student council?" Lucy replied wryly.

"She really likes Jellal, huh." he chuckled again. The scarlet haired beauty found any way to impress the president of the prestigious academy, and matching his title was her favorite way.

The door to the shop opened again, bringing with it a _ding_ and a loud exclamatory shout of the blonde's name. Both she and Gajeel curiously looked to the door. It was Sting, and his eyes brightened at the sight of her sitting with Gajeel. He headed towards their table.

"Ah, hey!" she grinned and waved. He was with his step-brother, Rogue, whose eyes widened at the sight of who she was with. Rogue was the quarterback of Kardia's football team. Gajeel was quarterback of Magnolia's; it was no surprise that the two had met and/or played each other.

"Oh my god, it's you!" Rogue gaped at the dark haired mechanic. He blushed and snapped his jaw shut. "I-I-I mean…" he stuttered as Sting laughed.

"Sorry, he idolizes you." Sting grinned before he sat down at the table. Rogue followed suit.

"Hey!" Rogue snapped, embarrassed. "Gajeel is just a great role model. You're the one that's obsessed with Natsu." he retorted.

"Can you blame me?! Ninety-eight percent from the three!" Sting defended his own idol. Gajeel and Lucy merely smiled at the pair. Sting's eyes lit up as he saw Lucy's chemistry homework. "We're still on for tomorrow, right?" he questioned.

"Yeah, meet here?" Lucy smiled.

"Sounds good to me!" the blond male grinned at her. Lucy merely smiled back at him. "Okay, we're gonna order now. Until we meet again, Milady." Sting got up, his brother following.

"You two close?" Gajeel's eyes had followed Sting like a hawk. Judging from the interaction between the two blondes, he deduced they might be dating.

"Yeah, I guess. We've gotten to be pretty good friends since his girlfriend Yukino asked me to tutor him." Lucy laughed. His head whipped around to look at her again.

"You're just tutoring him?" he frowned.

"Yeah, what? Did you think we went together?" she smiled.

"Wouldn't surprise me. Cute cheerleader with the captain of the basketball team is pretty common." Gajeel had Natsu and Lisanna in the back of his mind when he said this, though Natsu was too dense to actually realize they were practically a couple.

"Aw, you think I'm cute." Lucy leaned forwards on her elbows, smirking at the black haired teen. He studied her smug face before shrugging.

"I wouldn't lie to you. See ya." and with that Gajeel was gone. Lucy sat back in her seat, a smile still tingling her cheeks. Maybe she was blushing a bit. She could admit that.

She could not, however, admit that her heart was warm and her stomach had butterflies.

Not yet at least.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Another upload, kinda an apology for such a short chapter before this.**

"Are you kidding me, flame-brain?!" Gajeel hissed as he exited the principal's office with his cousin.

"It's not my fault!" Natsu groaned. "I don't like it either!"

"Well?" Erza frowned at the pair. "What's the verdict?"

"Banned from prom!" Natsu groaned.

"Thanks a lot, idiot." Gajeel hissed. Prom was in one month and he already had ordered a tux. He'd never get the money back.

"It's your own faults." Erza sighed, shaking her head. "And Lisanna wanted you to ask her ever so badly, Natsu."

"Oi! Shut up!" the pink haired teen's cheeks burned.

"I'm going to work." Gajeel grunted, trudging out of the school with his hands in his pockets. He couldn't stand to be around his cousin any longer. Their fight was about something stupid, as always, but Principal Makarov was pissed about them breaking a door. And a chair, and a locker, and inadvertently hitting some other dude with Natsu's flying body… Gajeel shook of the memories of the fight as he jogged to his truck.

It was downpouring. He cranked his windshield wipers to high (although they were barely keeping up with the sheets of rain). His truck moved pretty quickly, not too many puddles had formed yet, and he drove past someone who looked pretty damn pathetic in the rain. He slammed on his brakes, pulling over immediately and reversing to catch the blonde huddled under an umbrella. He rolled down his window as she peered warily at him.

"Oh, Gajeel!" she jumped over to the window.

"Get in, you're soaked." he commanded.

"Are you sure?" she asked, although she had already began opening the door and closing her pink umbrella. He rolled up the window and rummaged around the backseat before producing a spare blanket.

"Here, try and dry off with this." he grunted out. She thanked him and huddled it close to her shivering body. Gajeel shut the AC off and began driving again.

"Where are we going?" she questioned.

"I need to stop at the garage and tell my dad that I'll be dropping you off at home." he replied, carefully weaving through the after-school traffic. She sighed.

"Can you… not take me home?" she asked quietly.

"What? Why not?" he glanced over at her. She was staring out the window.

"I just… I don't want to right now."

"What's wrong, bunny girl?" Gajeel used the nickname he teased her with, but his tone was soft and serious.

"Nothing, I just… Nothing." her voice made his throat constrict. The blonde usually had a grin lighting up her face, but that wasn't the case today.

"I understand if you don't wanna talk about it. But you don't hafta act all tough around me." she was silent still. "Okay well. Funny story. Today, flame-brain pissed me off real bad. He was goofin off in our calculus class-"

"You take calculus?" she questioned. He nodded.

"What, think I'm not smart enough for it?" his grip tightened.

"I think you're really smart, actually." her voice was clear. "I just thought you'd be in higher classes. Like, AP and stuff." she clarified.

"Yeah, I take four of those already. School said I can't take more than that." he grunted.

"That's a stupid rule." she said softly.

"Most rules are stupid. Like the rule that I'm banned from my prom this year." he tried to get a rise out of her.

"What?!" she gasped. "Gajeel, what did you _do_?!"

"Fought with Natsu. He was pissing me off, remember?"

"You can't just beat somebody up when they're being annoying!"

"You can with Natsu. He _enjoys_ it." Gajeel explained the fight to him, not even leaving out the part when Natsu pantsed him. She laughed a lot at the visual she was getting.

"Boxers or briefs?" she was smiling again. (He thought she was really cute when she smiled, not that he'd ever tell her that).

"Unless you're planning on getting into my pants I'm not revealing anything to you, ya perv." Gajeel pulled into the employee garage next to the auto shop. He let it idle as Lucy gathered her stuff and shut it off in time to run around to open the door for her. He led her through the office into the repair portion of the shop.

"You can hang out in here, if you want. I've just got a few oil changes and then I'll just be waiting for walk ins." Gajeel had an easy day, lucky for him.

"I think I'll take you up on that." she grinned at him, setting her bag and umbrella down in a corner, tightening the blanket around her.

"Coffee? The new machine works pretty great." Gajeel offered.

"Sounds good to me." she sent him another of her signature smiles, and he couldn't help it when the corners of his own mouth quirked. He was just so relieved she was happy again. They entered the empty break room, located conveniently behind the front desk, and he poured her a cup.

"Here. Creams and sugars in the drawer."

"Thank you!" she sang out, adding two creams and three sugars. He shuddered at the thought of the sickeningly sweet drink. He didn't make a comment on it, though. She sipped it a bit as they sat on the couch in the break room.

"I've got an appointment in twenty minutes, he might show up early. I'm gonna head to the desk." he stood, offering a hand to her. She gripped onto his much larger hand and he yanked her up, letting it go once she was steady on her feet. She glared down at her low heels before kicking them off.

"I'm leaving these in here." Lucy announced. He shook his head at her (honestly, she walked to school in _heels_?) and they went back into the office. Her hair was just a bit damp, but her clothes were almost completely dry, so she folded the blanket and set it on the counter next to her coffee. "So, how much of a hot mess do I look?" she questioned, turning towards him.

"You've got a little black under yer eyes, but otherwise fine." Gajeel shrugged.

"I'll go fix it. Bathroom?" Lucy wandered in the direction he pointed. As soon as she was gone, his dad showed up.

"Hey, you were a little late. Also, I got a call from the principal. Banned from prom?!" Metalicana, a tall, intimidating man shouted.

"Yep." Gajeel grunted, looking straight into his father's eyes. He already knew he screwed up, and he didn't need his father to chew his ass out about it.

"I should've known my kid would be a troublemaker. Did I ever tell you about the time I -"

"The time you slashed your principal's tires? Or the time you set all the sprinklers off in the school to get out of a test? Or the time you - " Gajeel began listing things.

"Oi, oi! Never mind kid, I tell you way too much about my life. Don't get any ideas." he wagged his finger at his son. "Stay in school and get your precious engineering degree."

"Engineering degree? Sounds fancy." Lucy's voice appeared from behind them. She had fixed up her hair and makeup a bit, and her uniform looked a bit more dry. "My dad called and asked where I am. He's coming to pick me up."

"I - you - Gajeel! Who's this?!" Metalicana was flustered to see the cute (barefoot, and damp) blonde walk behind the counter to stand next to his son.

"Dad, this is my friend Lucy. She got caught in the rain so I gave her a ride here." Gajeel introduced. "Lucy, this is my pops, Metalicana."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Redfox." Lucy held out a hand, looking every bit as prim and proper as she usually did. But then she let a grin creep across her face. Metalicana thought that this girl may have been the sweetest little thing he'd ever seen. He then shook her hand, gave his son a look that screamed 'we need to talk later' and then he went to the break room.

"Sorry 'bout that." he grunted.

"Hey, I was thinking." Lucy ignored his apology.

"That might be dangerous, bunny girl." Gajeel teased.

"Shut up." she said dryly. "Anyways, since you're banned from your prom," she began, not looking at him, "and mine is on the same day, I think we should go to mine. Together." there was a light blush on her cheeks, but she would never admit it. But Gajeel had _definitely_ noticed it. He would never admit it either, but his cheeks felt a little warm as well.

"Okay. What time?" he grunted. Her breath hitched in her throat, he said _yes_?!

"The dinner's at seven, and after that the dance starts. Grand march is at nine-thirty, I think?"

"Okay. You on court?" she still couldn't believe he was being so nonchalant about this.

"Yeah, the court got voted on. I'm with Rogue, Levy is with Jet." Lucy nodded.

"Figures. I'd vote for you." they still hadn't looked at each other, so she snuck a glance over. He had a matching flush on his own cheeks, and it gave her a bit of pride.

"Yeah. I'd vote for you too." Lucy replied with a grin. He snorted and looked at her. Her phone chimed in her pocket. "Oh, my shoes."

"I'll get them." Gajeel loped back into the break room to grab her shoes. His dad was standing near the door with eyes so wide his pupils nearly disappeared.

"Gajeel! I heard everything." his dad seemed _excited_ somehow.

"Shut up for a minute." he grumbled, picking up Lucy's heels and bringing them back out to her. She thanked him and went outside, leaving pretty swiftly. She left the folded blanket and the now cold coffee. His dad burst out of the break room.

"She asked you to prom! Oh son! Such a cute girl likes my son!" he sobbed, hugging the shorter boy.

"Oi! Get off!" Gajeel's voice was slightly muffled by his father's chest.

"Oh my god I need to call Igneel and rub it in his face." Metalicana referenced his brother, Natsu's dad.

"Why don't you just call Grandine so she can tell Wendy while you're at it." Gajeel said sarcastically, wrenching himself from his father's arms.

"Great idea!" his father ran over to his cell and immediately started dialing. "Hey, Igneel, you'll never believe this…"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks so much for the positive feedback everyone! I really appreciate the nice comments that have been left thus far, and I'm glad so many of you like it! Please enjoy the next chapter, it's a bit of a filler but there's more coming soon!**

"Oh my god! Lucy!" Levy squealed over the phone when Lucy told her she asked Gajeel to prom.

"We're going as friends, Levy!" despite her words, Lucy's face was a bright tomato red.

"Oh come on, I _know_ that you have a crush on him!" Levy teased.

"Don't say that!" she snapped at her friend.

"Lu, just accept it and move on. Now instead of you teasing _me_ , it's the other way around." the bluenette sounded positively evil on the other end of the phone.

"I don't even have his phone number." Lucy defended her relationship with the handsome (did she just say handsome?) mechanic.

"I'll text it to you!" Levy was being oh so helpful. Lucy merely flopped back onto her bed and groaned.

"I need to tell my dad." Lucy sighed.

"Today?' Levy sounded a bit worried at that.

"No, no, not today. Tomorrow, probably. Today was… tough." Lucy sighed. It was her mother's birthday. It had been seven years already, and she missed her so much. She and her father ached with love for the late Layla Heartfilia, and so they skirted around each other all day, knowing that one wrong move and they would both be bawling their eyes out.

"I understand." Levy had always been there for Lucy once they became friends, and Lucy was fiercely loyal to the girl.

"Thank you, Levy." the blonde smiled softly.

"It's getting late, Lu." Levy yawned. With a glance at the clock Lucy murmured her agreement, and they said their goodnights. Lucy turned her lamp of and stared at the ceiling for a bit. Her phone pinged with a text. It was from an unknown number.

 _Unknown:_

 _Hey, it's Gajeel._

Another text came through.

 _Unknown:_

 _I got your number from Erza_

She smiled before adding his contact.

 _Me:_

 _Hey what's up?_

 _Gajeel:_

 _Just realized I don't know what color corsage to get you_

 _Me:_

 _My dress is pink, you can just choose white or something_

 _Gajeel:_

 _Great, thanks_

 _Gajeel:_

 _Why are you still up? It's perty late_

 _Gajeel:_

 _Pretty*_

 _Me:_

 _Wow thanks for calling me pretty ;) But I was just headed to bed._

 _Gajeel:_

 _Okay, srry for keeping you up_

 _Gajeel:_

 _Goodnight. I'll text you tomorrow._

 _Me:_

 _Night, Gajeel_

Lucy set her phone back down on her bedside table before reaching for her pillow and promptly slamming it over her face. She released a squeal into it, muffling the sound so her dad wouldn't her. She could barely believe it. It seemed to all rush to her now, and he was getting her a _corsage_. That totally means it's a date.

Right?

The next morning, Lucy got ready in record time, skipping down the stairs to have breakfast with her dad.

"Morning, daddy!" she chirped, kissing his cheek before sitting across from him. He set down the newspaper as the housekeeper, Virgo served them some eggs, toast, and bacon.

"You're in a good mood." her father replied, breaking the yolk of his fried egg.

"Well, I have a date to prom." she nonchalantly pushed at her eggs.

"Who is it? Is he from your school? Is it Elfman? You know how much I love that kid." Jude Heartfilia grinned at his beautiful blonde daughter. He hoped it was a guy who would treat her right, a real stand up type of man.

"Well, he's from Magnolia High." she began to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"It's always great to know that you can expand your horizon, Lucy. I'm proud of you for not being stuck up like some other kids." Jude beamed.

"He works at the auto shop. He wants to be an engineer." Lucy revealed a bit more about her date to her father. "But we're just going together as friends."

"Redfox's kid?" Jude frowned. He thought about him long and hard. He knew Metalicana, after all, he did fix his car very well on numerous occasions. His son… was the one with all the face piercings. Jude was a bit uneasy about the thought of his daughter going with that sort of boy, but he had heard great things about the kid's personality. He was fiercely protective of his close friends, star of the football team, got amazing grades… Jude couldn't complain, honestly. Hell, he did stupid stuff when he was in high school, so why would he judge this boy? Lucy needed a strong guy in her life that could protect her from…

"Dad?" Lucy waved her hand in front of his face.

"Ah, yes. He's a good kid, I'm glad you don't judge a book by it's cover. You really are growing up to be just like your mother." Jude let out a watery sigh. They shared a sad smile before finishing their breakfast.

"I'll see you after school." Lucy hugged her father goodbye before hopping into her car. It had been getting detailed the day before, so now it was nice and clean and she could drive it again. She enjoyed the calm, quiet ride to school.

When she got to school, however, it was anything but calm.

"Lucy!" Rogue was waiting near her usual parking spot. "Is it true?! You're bringing Gajeel to prom?!" he seemed frantic, maybe even a bit excited.

"Uh… yes?" she frowned at him. How did he know that? She had asked Gajeel not even twenty-four hours before.

"Oh my god!" Rogue shouted. "I can't believe my idol is coming to our prom!" he suddenly ran off. Lucy was still a little bit confused, but she shook it off and entered the school. As soon as her foot stepped through the door, she was bombarded by more people.

"Is it true!?" a guy shouted. "Am I too late to ask you to prom?!"

"I can't believe this!" another wailed.

"How do you all know who I'm bringing to prom?" she questioned them.

"Jet told Droy and Droy told Hibiki and Hibiki told Loke and Loke told everyone! He was really upset." a girl supplied the information Lucy requested.

"That stupid little…" Lucy muttered. "Where is he?!"

"He's waiting by your locker, Miss Lucy." a girl from Lucy's French class said.

"Thanks Angela." she shot a smile at the girl before a murderous expression overtook her features. She stormed to her locker, nearly snarling when she saw the orange-haired playboy leaning against it.

"My love!" he cooed, running forwards to greet her with his arms open for a hug. In return, she drove her fist down onto the top of his head.

"What the hell?! Why did you cause the whole school to go into a panic just because I'm going to prom with Gajeel?!"

"Hey, I didn't cause the panic!" he groaned, rubbing his head. "A lot of guys are freaking out because they wanted you to be their date. Myself included! My princess, why didn't you wait for me?!" he wailed.

"I already told you I wouldn't go with you! And I never said I would go with any of those guys either!" Lucy shouted.

"Lucy! Your beautiful body must go to the prom with me!" Taurus, one of Loke's friends, ran up.

"See? A lot of people wanted to go with you!"

"Make it stop!" she groaned, running to the girls bathroom. She leaned against the sinks with a sigh of relief.

"Lucy!" Angel, a girl Lucy didn't necessarily like, burst into the bathroom.

"Ah!" she jumped, squealing.

"You're taking _Gajeel_?! As in, super fit bad boy football player _Gajeel_?!" the white-haired girl slammed her hands down onto the ceramic sink.

"Why does everyone keep making such a big deal out of it?" Lucy was extremely irritated at this point.

"Because he's, like, the _hottest_ guy at magnolia! Well, other than Laxus or Gray. But he's so, so, _hot!_ " Another girl burst into the conversation.

"Tall, dark, and handsome." Flare Corona, one of Lucy's frenemies, piped up. She had appeared out of nowhere. The girls in the room sighed.

"Look, uh, Gajeel and I are _just friends_." Lucy reassured them all.

"There is no way you can be just friends with a guy that hot." a girl chastised.

"She's friends with a lot of hotties. Like Sting, and Rogue… and Loke!" another squealed.

"Aw man, I wish I were Lucy!" a girl appeared from one of the stalls. Suddenly, the bathroom felt a bit too crowded. Lucy did the only thing she could think of to do. She ran to her homeroom. The door was closed and the lights were off, but Lucy snuck inside and put her head down on her desk, hoping Levy would come soon.

Gajeel was facing similar problems. A bunch of guys he knew were nearly in tears when they found out he was escorting the gorgeous blonde to her prom. And a lot of the girls, who apparently thought he was gonna ask them, were crying for the same reason. Mira and Erza, however… The memory of what he went through haunted him.

" _Gajeel!" Mirajane was furious when she found out. "I can't believe you-you aren't going with Levy! You two are perfect for each other!" the white haired woman had actually broken into the school to reprimand him._

" _Levy and I are not anything more than friends!"_

" _You fiend!" Erza reacted similarly, but for different reasons. "If you dare to hurt my precious friend I will slit your throat and feed you to the wolves!"_

" _What is wrong with everybody!"_

"Why is this such a big deal?" Gajeel grunted as he sat outside with Gray. It had been at least an hour since he began hiding from the scary women, and Gray spent the time with him.

"Cuz you're super popular. A lot of girls think you're really hot, a lot of guys think Lucy's really hot." Gray shrugged, absentmindedly tugging at the neck of his t-shirt.

"So?" he challenged.

"So guys are jealous of you and girls are jealous of Lucy." Gray explained. "And vice-versa." he added in.

"So are _you_ jealous that I'm taking Lucy?" Gajeel scrutinized his friend's expression.

"A little. I mean, I heard from Mira that she looks super good in her dress. Who wouldn't want to take her? You've got balls for asking her, man." Gray smirked.

"I didn't even ask her." Gajeel muttered.

"Wait, what?! You didn't ask her?" Gray sat up quickly, eyes going wide.

"Yeah, she was walking home looking like a sad little kitten yesterday in the rain. So I picked her up. We hung out for a little bit and then she asked me to go with her." Gajeel explained the situation.

"Dude!" he laughed. "She must really like you."

"What?" Gajeel's cheeks tinted a tiny bit.

"Lucy has turned down everyone who has asked her to any school dance. So the fact that _she_ asked _you_ ," Gray snickered, "well that is a feat within itself."

"You're wrong." Gajeel shot the idea down. "She just felt bad because I was banned from going to our prom."

"Yeah, and my ass isn't white." Gray snorted. "Just face it, Gajeel. You've got a cute little cheerleader all to yourself now."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in uploading! I was busy with prep for my own prom, so I hope you all enjoy this next chapter!**

Gajeel was _nervous_. He had the blonde's number pulled up on his phone, all he needed to do was hit the green button to call her. He was planning to ask her to just come over to his place and hang out, but his stomach was rolling with nerves.

"Come on, man." he grunted to himself. "You haven't seen her in like, a week. She probably wants to see her prom date. Right?" He was about to press the button when his phone began to ring. Speak of the devil. It was the blondie he was struggling to call. He waited a few seconds (he didn't want to seem desperate of course) before accepting the call.

"Hi."

"Hello!" she said.

"Hey." he swallowed thickly, wincing at his awkwardness.

"What are you doing today?" Lucy's voice was high and cute, and Gajeel wanted to melt into the floor from embarrassment.

"I, uh," he was trying to find the right words to say. "I was actually gonna ask you if you wanted to, er, hang out at my place."

"Oh!" she laughed. "Well, that's great because I was going to ask if you wanted to do something with me this afternoon."

"Okay." he paused, unsure of what to say next.

"Meet me at Porlyusica's in ten minutes?" the blonde referenced the coffee shop his cousin worked at.

"Sounds good to me." he grunted, grabbing his keys from where they hung by the door. He knew it would take him around five minutes to drive to the place, so he planned to get there early. Once he arrived, however, he saw a scene he wasn't too fond of. Lucy had already parked and gotten out of her car, but there were a few guys he didn't recognize talking to her. He yanked the keys from his ignition and practically leaped from his truck, shoving his fists in his pockets.

"I'm sorry, but I'm meeting a friend here." he heard Lucy say to them. He stormed over, but they still didn't hear his approach.

"Sweetie, she can come along. There's plenty of time." one of them grinned to her. Gajeel stood behind Lucy and crossed his arms.

"I don't know, bunny girl. I'm not really up for hanging with these two sickos either." Gajeel grunted, glaring menacingly at them.

"Oh, you're early!" she turned, smiling as if nothing were wrong. The two guys that were hitting on Lucy paled at the sight of him.

"Y-you're Black Steel Gajeel!" one gasped.

"Yep."

"S-s-sorry, man, we didn't know this was your girl!" the other yelped before they raced off.

"'Black Steel Gajeel?'" Lucy quirked a perfectly shaped blonde eyebrow at him.

"Football camp last year was a rough time." he shrugged.

"Now I'm curious." she grinned at him. He put his hand on the small of her back and steered her towards the door.

"I'll tell you over lunch." he couldn't help but grin back. Her smiles were contagious. After they had ordered (Lucy _only_ went dutch, she refused to let him pay the whole bill) and received their lunches (her, chicken salad on a croissant - him, a toasted sandwich) he began to tell his tale.

"Okay, so every summer each football team in the division goes to a training camp." he swallowed a bite of his sandwich.

"Okay, yeah, Kardia goes to that too I think." she nodded, plucking at the garnish at her plate, completely attuned to what he was saying.

"Yeah, they do." he confirmed, then sipped at his water. "Well, we room with players from other teams, two to a room. I was with Rogue, and I guess that's why he's so…"

"Admirable of you?" she offered a word.

"Yeah, we'll call it that. Gihi." he grinned. "Well, usually you try to hone your skills in your position, but you get to switch it around a little."

"Oh, to like, see if you're good at something else?" she frowned, sipping her _ridiculously_ detailed latte. (A tall soy latte with a half shot coconut flavor half shot macadamia nut flavor with whipped cream and chocolate shavings).

"I guess, yeah. So I was acting as linebacker for a play." he chuckled at her thoughtful face.

"Linebackers tackle, right?" she questioned.

"They can, usually defensive tacklers do that though." Gajeel explained. "But, I think it was Chris Frunvitt from Xenon High who was the running back?" he questioned his own memory.

"The solid wall of muscle?" she raised both of her eyebrows.

"Yeah that one." he confirmed. "Well, my job was to take him down."

"Did you?" she leaned over.

"Somehow, someway, I hit him hard enough that he took out a lineman _and_ the quarterback." her eyebrows went even higher if that was possible.

"Wait seriously?" there was a twinkle in her eyes.

"I mean, I also went flying, but nobody really noticed." he chuckled. Mirth showed on her face as she pictured it.

"How far did you go?" she was successfully holding back her giggles.

"Well, I'm not sure, I kinda blacked out for a second. All I know is I went ass over teakettle." he 'ran' with his fingers across the table, acting out the scene for her. She couldn't take it anymore and burst out into laughter.

"And now," she wiped a tear from her eye, "they call you _Black Steel Gajeel_?!"

"Hey, when you give three bulky dudes concussions all at once, you gotta be some type of legend." he shrugged.

"Man, I wouldn't want to meet you in an alley on a dark night." her giggles subsided and she began to eat her sandwich again.

"I wouldn't bite. Unless you wanted me to." he grinned wolfishly at the blonde, and she choked on her sandwich. "Bunny, you alright?" he sat up straighter with concern. Her face was red from coughing (or was she blushing? He couldn't tell) and more tears were in her eyes.

"Y-yeah, fine. Wasn't expecting that!" she let out another laugh and took a sip of her (again, _ridiculously_ specific) coffee. "So I'm going to prom with Black Steel Gajeel." her smile widened. "I'll have to put that on a resume someday."

"Speaking of prom." Gajeel finished the last of his sandwich before clearing his throat. "I'll pick you up at like, six-thirty?"

"Maybe a bit earlier, Levy and Jet are gonna meet us at my house for pictures." Lucy pondered.

"Ugh, we gotta take some?" he groaned as she chewed the last bite of her sandwich.

"Well if I blew almost eight hundred dollars on a dress -" it was his turn to choke, on his water this time. He pounded his chest as he coughed it out.

" _Eight hundred -_ okay what the hell is it made of, Jesus' tears?!"

"Oh shut up, all the dresses are gonna be expensive." she rolled her eyes. "And for your information, it's made of silk and tulle and there are some swarovski crystals adorning the top."

"Those words mean absolutely nothing to me." he grunted out. "How much are the tickets? I'll pay for em right away." he filed through his wallet.

"My dad is paying for the tickets." she informed him.

"Ah, I don't think so." there was no expression in his voice.

"Hey, _I'm_ the one who asked _you_."

"I'm tryna be a gentleman."

"You're _Black Steel Gajeel_." she snickered behind her hand. "I didn't think there was a gentleman in there."

"Oi!" Gajeel scowled. "I can be a gentleman."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Lucy teased back. "So what do we do now?" she pushed her empty plate away and stacked her empty cup on top of it.

"Uh…" he thought to himself. "I've really got nothing to do back at my place but play Mario Kart. Have you got anything in mind?"

"Oho! Mario Kart? We are _definitely_ gonna do that. Let's go!" she hopped up from the table and put their dirty dishes into the bin.

"Really?" he questioned. "I didn't think you'd wanna."

"Trust me," she turned coyly with a smile, "you're gonna have to give up your title to me when I'm finished with you."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: A bit short, but I kinda like the fluff that goes on. It's torturous trying to build a slow burn plot, but eh, I'm enjoying it so far.**

"I can't believe it!" Lucy groaned, dropping sideways onto the couch she and Gajeel were sitting on. She shoved her feet over his knees and groaned again at the winner's screen. "We tied! We tied every round, so _why_ does it keep putting you as number one?!"

"Because I'm Black Steel Gajeel."

"That's it, I officially hate you."

"You know you love me." he smirked at her. She pulled her feet underneath her and sat back up.

"What now?" she sighed.

"We could-" he was cut off by her squeal of excitement.

"Oh my god! You have a cat!"

"Uhhh yeah, I do. His names Pantherlily." Gajeel scratched the back of his head as his beloved kitty leaped into his lap and demanded his attention. He held his hand out for the black and white cat to nuzzle before stroking under its chin.

"Aww he's so adorable." she cooed, scooting closer to Gajeel.

"Yeah he's real cute. And a real pain in the ass when I need to get up in the morning." Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Every night he comes and lays right on top my chest. I can't move when I wake up."

"Just move him." Lucy let the cat sniff her hand before patting the top of his head.

"Why would I move him? He's too cute to disturb when he's sleeping with his little face and…" Gajeel blushed as he realized what he was saying.

"Awww Black Steel Gajeel has a soft side!" the blonde crowed.

"Tell anyone about this and you'll regret it." he threatened her, continuing to play with Pantherlily.

"It'd be worth it." she grinned, leaning back into the couch as they both stroked the kitty.

"Oh, I was gonna say before," Gajeel remembered, "we can watch a movie or somethin. It's only, what, four?" the pair had gotten to Gajeel's house at around one, so they played Mario Kart for far longer than either had anticipated.

"What should we watch?" she asked as he pulled Netflix up.

"Hmm… let's watch-"

"Creed!" she exclaimed. He turned his head to her, a lost look in his eyes.

"You wanna watch that?"

"Well, your favorite movie is Rocky, right? This is the newest installment of the series, after all."

"But are you sure you wouldn't rather watch, I dunno, some chick flick?" he questioned.

"I don't think you'd enjoy that type of movie. Besides, Levy said it was really good, I've been meaning to watch it for ages." the blonde smiled before taking the remote from him and pressing the play button on the title.

Gajeel was getting it _bad_ for this little blondie.

Neither of them knew it, but Lucy felt the same. The only reason the movie had interested her when Levy brought it up was because she knew Gajeel would like it. Somehow, she started to seek out things that he'd like. Hell, even that morning she had considered wearing dark jeans with a black top, since that was the outfit he rocked almost every time she saw him.

Both of them watched the movie with rapture, sneaking glances at the other to gauge their reactions to what was going on. Sometime during it, Gajeel's arm had snaked on the back of the sofa behind Lucy's head, and she unconsciously leaned into him. Pantherlily was squeezed into the tiny space between them, purring as Lucy's fingers stroked the soft fur between his eyes.

"That was really good!" Lucy exclaimed at the end of the movie.

"Tch. Too much romance." Gajeel's voice was a little hoarse from not speaking for such a long time after his yelling match during Mario Kart. Lucy's breath caught when she heard it, her cheeks giving a bit of a flush.

"So… are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she sprang up, realizing how close they were.

"What?" his eyes narrowed at her suspiciously.

"I say now we play… Wii boxing!" she cheered, holding up the attachments and the game.

"You're on." he stood abruptly with a smirk, making Pantherlily give out a mewl of protest from the loss of body heat.

"I hope you know that I'm even better at Wii boxing than I am at Mario Kart." she joked.

"So… you're terrible?"

"Hey!" she punched him. "We tied every time, that would mean you're calling yourself terrible!"

"Keep the violence to the game, please." Gajeel rolled his eyes at her. The first round, she knocked him out. The second round, he got her pretty quickly.

"Hey! You cheated." she pouted.

"How can you possibly cheat in a game like this?" he chuckled, clicking start on the next round.

"Like…" she sent out a series of punches, knocking his character down, then leaped onto him, latching around him so he couldn't move. "This!" she squealed as he struggled.

"Oi! Get off me, bunny girl!" he shouted, trying to wiggle her off of him without hurting her.

"Yes! I won!" Lucy cheered, successfully keeping her opponent down.

"That was totally cheating!" he scowled as she continued to cheer for herself.

"I know!" she let a giggle escape. "I told you I was going to!"

"That's it, we're never playing another game again."

"You know you love me." she echoed his words from before. They both turned to face each other, grinning widely. When their eyes met they didn't forget the rest of the world, they didn't feel romantic tension. They just looked at each other and were content.

There was a warmth in each of their hearts that blossomed throughout their bodies. They didn't feel desperate to touch each other, they were happy as they were. And so when they moved agonizingly slow towards each other, neither sped up.

They had both lost their game controllers what seemed like ages ago. They were hyper-aware of their surroundings, the cheering coming from the TV only edging them further. The soft purring snores of Pantherlily made them both grin even wider, and when Gajeel's fingers ghosted over the blonde's hips they both shivered at the warmth there. She moved to place her hands lightly on his broad (and _very_ muscular, she noticed) shoulders.

"We should practice dancing." Lucy blurted.

"For what?" his grin turned into a scowl.

"Well, we have to dance together at prom."

"Oi, we don't have to." he whined.

"I want to." her smile melted his resolve.

"Okay, fine, but if a word of this gets out…" his threat was empty and she knew it. So did he. And so she laced her fingers behind his neck and he placed his hands just above the small of her back (like a _gentleman_ , she noted) and they danced to the sounds of the world around them. It was a slow shuffle, almost intimate. Their chests brushed every so often, causing more shivers of warmth, and her long blonde hair tickled the backs of his hands.

Neither of them confessed, and neither of them planned to, because somehow, they just knew that they wouldn't have it any other way.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Since the last chapter was so fluffy, of course I had to ruin it by making them into perverts... also Lucy's secret gets revealed next time. Don't forget to review!**

"You _what_?!" Levy squawked at her best friend the next day.

"I went to Gajeel's house on Saturday and we played games and watched a movie." Lucy explained again, thinking her friend misheard her. They were sitting in their homeroom before school, waiting for the bell to ring.

"Yeah I know I got that. Are you guys, like, dating yet?!"

"What?" Lucy mimicked her friend's screech from before. "D-d-dating, no! We're just friends." she waved her friend's words away.

"Yeah, sure." she rolled her eyes. "I'm telling Juvia about this!" Levy squealed. She waved their friend over, who also had blue hair, and immediately told her what had happened.

"You two would be the cutest couple! Just as cute as Juvia would be with her dear Gray…" the blue haired woman sighed dreamily. The captain of the girl's swim team held an infatuation with the hockey player from Magnolia. It was a bit excessive at times, but there was no doubt that Juvia held feelings for the black haired man. Lucy had only met him the one time, but she had heard many stories from her friend.

"Their ship name is officially Gajucy!" Levy exclaimed.

"What! No, it must be Galu!" the other blue haired girl argued. Lucy just dropped her head to her desk with a groan.

"Can we not talk about this? I'm already stressed out enough over prom." Lucy sighed.

"I'm so excited, it's less than three weeks away!" Levy squealed.

"Juvia wishes she could go with her beloved Gray." Juvia sighed.

"Well, Lyon is on court with you. Don't hurt his feelings by talking about Gray all night." Lucy warned.

"Juvia would never!" the girl blushed, knowing she probably would end up talking about Gray unconsciously.

"So why are you stressing out over prom?" Levy asked. Lucy's face warmed up.

"No - no reason." she hid her face again.

"Oh, I know what it is." Levy's face broke into a lecherous grin.

"What? What is it?" Juvia excitedly looked between her two friends.

" _Lucy_ is worried about what comes _after_ prom night!" the blue haired girl giggled maniacally.

"Levy!" Lucy shrieked, slapping her hands over her friend's mouth. "It's not - we aren't - I wouldn't - Ugh!" she let out a wail and let her head thud back down onto the desk.

"Don't worry about that, Lucy." Juvia's grin mirrored the other bluenette. "We will make sure you have protection." before Lucy could shriek at them again, the bell rang and the room filled with students. Lucy settled for a petulant glare before ignoring them for the rest of the block.

…..

"Dude," Gray sighed to his friend, "think about _after_ prom night if you're so nervous."

"What?!" Gajeel blanched.

"Oh, come on." Laxus rolled his eyes. They were all seated at their lunch table, the guys on one end and the girls on the other, all chattering about the upcoming dance.

"Yeah, you gotta know that you rent a hotel for the night and stay out waaay late." Gray acted nonchalant about this, even though he hadn't even done it himself.

"There is _no way_." Gajeel disgustedly shook his head.

"What, not attracted to Lucy? I'm sure Bickslow would take her off your hands." Laxus turned towards his friend who nodded eagerly.

"That's not - shut up!" Gajeel's cheeks tinted pink.

"What's wrong, man? I _know_ you've done it with a girl." Gray smirked slyly, baiting his friend.

"Yeah, but this is _Lucy_. She's not just some quick lay." the mechanic ran his forever grease stained hands through his wild hair, sticking it up even further.

"Aw, you like her." Laxus teased his friend.

"Shaddup!" he snapped, tossing a piece of crust from the cafeteria's pizza at the blonde.

"Hey, where's Natsu?" Gray looked around, just realizing that the pink haired teen wasn't around the entire lunch period.

"Huh, weird. Natsu never misses a lunch…" Mirajane, who was seated next to Laxus, had only heard this part of the conversation and became worried.

"Hey… Lisanna is gone too." Gajeel smirked.

"No!" Bickslow gasped.

"Yes!" Mirajane squealed.

"Finally, that idiot grew some balls." Gray nodded, kind of proud of his sort-of friend.

"Now the only ones left to go get paired up are Gajeel and Gray." Mirajane sighed happily.

"Hey, what about me?" Evergreen piped up from further down the table.

"We all know how much you like a certain Strauss brother." Bickslow teased. Luckily, Elfman and Freed were in the other lunch so they didn't hear Evergreen's secret.

"Sh-shut up! You've got no idea what you're talking about." Evergreen sniffed indifferently.

"Yeah, yeah." Bickslow snickered.

"Anyways," Gray turned back to Gajeel with a low voice, "prom night."

"Quit it you pervert!" Gajeel hissed at his friend. "Lucy's way too good for any of that crap. I wouldn't… It wouldn't be right."

"Well, well." Mira smirked at Gajeel. "At least one of the boys here has some semblance of romance."

"What-" Laxus sputtered. " _I'm_ romantic." he paused. "I _am_ romantic, right?" Mirajane just giggled, not giving him an actual answer.

"I must admit that I am little bit disappointed that you and Lucy are going to prom together." Mira let her lip pout out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Gajeel clenched his fists, narrowing his eyes at the white-haired beauty.

"After doing the match game I thought you and Levy were _perfect_ for each other. It was like a match made in heaven." she sighed dreamily, placing her face in her hands.

"No way, Levy likes some track kid." Gajeel waved her dreams away.

"I still have hope!" she giggled again. The mechanic merely shrugged and poked at his tray. When the bell rang he was the first to stand, tossing his picked apart lunch and going to class faster than he ever had before. Gajeel just couldn't _wait_ for the day to be over.

The next time he saw Lucy was gonna be awkward as _hell_.

…...

"Luuuuuucyyyyy~" the blonde cringed at the voice of her classmate. She turned with a smile to see what they needed.

"Yes?" she was, as ever, perfectly polite.

"Can you come to my prom after party?" the dance was in less than two weeks and Lucy was beginning to feel nerves settle in. May sixth was the date and it was, in her mind, _way_ too soon.

"I'll see if I can make it." she assured the kid and turned tail to rush to her locker. Levy and Juvia were waiting for her there.

"Everyone says they're gonna vote you for queen!" Levy squealed.

"Really?" Lucy's heart skipped a beat; she really wanted to be queen, but her biggest competition were Yukino and Minerva.

"Juvia thinks that Lucy will win because Lucy is such a wonderful and beautiful person." the curvy bluenette smiled to her friend.

"Juvia you're so sweet! But I think that Minerva or Yukino would win, because they both are so gorgeous and talented." Lucy hugged her friends.

"Just imagine what Gajeel would say when he saw you with the crown on." Levy smirked.

"Oh, shut up Levy." Lucy blushed at her friend.

"Juvia heard from her darling Gray that Lucy and Gajeel have a date tonight."

"Do not!" Lucy snapped, her face turning even pinker. "We're just going to the movies and then we're hanging out at his house."

"That's a date." the short bookworm sang out.

"Oh, you two are just as bad as Mirajane." the blonde's face began to cool down and she packed her books into her locker. She didn't have much homework for the weekend so it didn't take long.

"You'll call me when you guys finally kiss, riiiight?" Levy wiggled her eyebrows.

"As long as you tell me when you and _Jet_ have sex." Lucy giggled at her friend and shut her locker, strutting off towards her car. She primped herself in her mirror before heading towards the movie theater. She and Gajeel wanted to catch an early showing for a new action movie, knowing that the later they went the more busy it would be.

When she arrived she pulled a designer bag out of her center console and swiped a nude gloss from its depths. She pulled out a small rollerball of perfume and applied each of the products lightly before scanning the rest of the parking lot for Gajeel's super-hot black truck. When she spotted it pulling into a space, Lucy immediately jumped from her car, locked it, and rushed towards it.

However, she was interrupted.

"Hey, you here alone?" a guy stepped between her and the area she was headed towards.

"Ah, no, actually, I'm going to meet my friend in just a minute." Lucy smiled back.

"Aw, too bad. I was gonna ask if you would go see a movie with me. My date stood me up, you see." he grinned sheepishly at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry." she let out an uncomfortable laugh. He didn't seem to be a bad person, but she really wasn't in the mood to get asked out.

"Do you think maybe we could hang out sometime? I'm Dan." the redhead smiled at her, and her heart leapt into her throat. His name was Dan. Hisnamewas _Dan_.

"No! No, I have to go." she turned and tried to bolt somewhere, _anywhere_ but there. But his hand shot out and gripped her forearm.

"Hey, are you alright?" he seemed genuinely concerned, but she couldn't breathe and she was panicking and she couldn't fucking _breathe_ and she had to get away. But _Dan_ had her by the arm, _Dan_ grabbed her and suddenly she was brought back to a time that she really, really wanted to forget.

"Let her go." a deep voice growled out, causing the iron grip _Dan_ had on her forearm to immediately drop. Lucy stumbled forwards a few steps, wheezing as tears began to form. She could not believe that she was having a panic attack at this awful moment. She felt a pair of hands fall on her shoulders, but she struggled to see who it was. Black dots were spotting her vision and her knees were shaking.

"Get, go, go away." she whimpered.

"Bunny, what's wrong?" Lucy recognized Gajeel's voice as he spoke, wiping a tear that escaped down her cheek.

"I can't-I don't-" she was unable to think or speak or even explain what was going on. She must have blacked out because the next thing she knew she was sitting in the passenger side of Gajeel's truck. The door was opened and he was standing in front of her, hands on her knees drawing soothing circles on her skin. Her hands fisted into the hem of her skirt.

"Are you okay now?" his voice was soft, softer than she'd ever imagined it could be, and she felt his eyes boring into the top of her head. She sniffled a bit before looking up at him.

"Yeah I'm fine, I'm sorry about that." she let out an embarrassed laugh.

"Don't be sorry." he grunted. "What did that piece of shit do to you?" his eyes narrowed at her. Lucy began to feel guilty.

"He didn't do anything." Lucy sighed. "I just-I don't want to talk about it right now."

"You don't want to talk about it or you're scared to?" he questioned. She didn't respond.

"I don't want to ruin our night with this. Let's go in and see the movie, okay?" she smiled.

"We missed the beginning."

"Oh…"

"Lucy." his voice was soft and warm and gravelly and it hurt her heart.

"I…" she trailed off weakly. "Can we not talk about this here?"

"Do you want to go home?" he asked.

"No!" she shouted. His eyes widened and he took a step back. "I mean… I just… going there would be worse. Can we go to your house?"

"Uh, yeah sure. Do you wanna drive separate?"

"Yes!" she jumped down from his seat. "Last one there has to pay for pizza!" she ran to her car and when she finally made it inside, she collapsed back onto the seat. "I don't want to tell him." she whimpered, gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She hated when the past caught up with her.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry, another late update! I'm starting to get writers block for this story, but I'm so close to finishing! I think there will be only a few more chapters until I finish. Thank you to all who have enjoyed the story thus far! If anyone is interested, I started a fairy tail fan page on instagram! The handle is CelestialKeyWielder, and if you see this and follow me from it be sure to dm me so I know! Love you all, see you next time!**

Gajeel was _nervous_. He had gotten back to his house, Lucy following close behind, and he was scared to know the truth. He didn't know what to expect from her, and so when they had each settled down at the kitchen island, directly across from each other, he couldn't even look her in the eyes.

"So." she began, her voice a bit weak.

"So." he echoed blankly.

"I guess… what happened was a little weird."

"A little." he felt his lips tug into small grin.

"So…" she sighed, pushing her shoulders back. "Let me get one thing straight. What I'm telling you, it's not for sympathy. I don't want you to think of me any differently, and I don't want you to get mad or sad or any of that. This is simply… Just, listen objectively, got it?"

"You're the boss." he waved for her to continue.

"Uh, okay. Um," she ran her hand through her pretty, shiny blonde hair and laughed nervously. "About a year or so ago, I guess, probably more now, actually." she pondered.

"Time frame is a while ago, got it." he nodded to her. She shot him a grateful smile for not being too serious.

"Yeah, so I went through some… stuff." another awkward laugh fell from her lips. Gajeel decided he wouldn't speak until he heard the whole story, so he stayed quiet this time. "I was, what, fifteen going on sixteen? It was my first year on the cheerleading team, second year of real school, I had a lot going for me. Oh, yeah, it was around the time of homecoming." she remembered.

"We already got the time frame, bunny." Gajeel's voice was soft but direct, and she knew she should stop skirting around the story.

"Well, I was dumb and young. And so this guy started talking to me," she forced out another laugh, clearly uncomfortable but powering through it. "He started talking to me and I thought nothing of it. He was nice, handsome, popular… No other guy had ever actually taken notice of me at that point. He texted me all the time, gave me flowers, always wanted to be with me…" Gajeel could see where this was going. He didn't want it to go this way, he wanted her to finish telling the story and laugh and say 'you fell for it!' but he knew deep down that it wasn't gonna happen.

"His name?" his voice was hoarse.

"Dan Straight, he was on the lacrosse team." she supplied the information he asked for. Gajeel put a face to the name, realizing he hadn't seen much of the kid in… around a year, he supposed. Hadn't seen him at all, actually. "Dan was super good to me, for a while. We didn't date, I didn't let it get that far, but I suppose I shouldn't have let it get as far as it did." a shuddering sigh made her shoulders droop. "He suddenly was… overwhelming. He always always _always_ wanted to be around me, and to know who I was with and when. He was jealous of all other guys. I remember I was talking to a guy one day and the next he came to school with a black eye and wouldn't even _look_ at me. I was horrified.

"I knew it was Dan, because it happened to any guy that talked to me, and soon he was going after my girl friends. He hounded them to leave me alone, he wanted me to all to himself, but I was so disgusted by his actions that I started ignoring him and I blocked his number. I didn't talk to anyone about it, I'm such an _idiot_ for not asking for help. The guy was insane, he gave me the creeps and I was so terrified of him that I turned tail and ran any time he came around.

"He showed up at my house one night. He wanted to ask me to homecoming, and I said… I told him I never wanted to see him, speak to him again. I was home alone, and-" Lucy cut herself off, a slight sob escaping her lips. "He just-he kept hitting me. And he hit me and it hurt, _so_ bad. I didn't know what to do, he was so much _stronger_ than me so I just started screaming and then he tried to-" she gasped again, wiping at her eyes, suddenly reliving the moment. "He tried taking off my clothes and then my neighbor showed up, he must have heard me, and he pulled Dan off of me and the police showed up and all I did was cry." Gajeel felt rage bursting inside of him, but sympathy washed over him in waves, tamping down the anger. He grabbed Lucy's hand as she began to sob harder.

"Hey, hey." his voice was soft again, and she could barely _stand_ the emotion that vibrated through his tenor sound waves. "Lucy, you're okay. You're with me, it's okay." Gajeel was practically cooing to her.

"Y-yeah. That fucking bastard… he's not around." she calmed down a bit. "I wish he was in jail." she let out a shaky laugh, and Gajeel was proud of her for being able to power through it. But then ice shot down his spine as he processed what she said.

"You mean _he's not rotting in jail?!_ " he snarled. She should have been afraid of his tone, the way malice dripped from his tongue like venom, but she wasn't. She merely traced her fingers around his clenched knuckles with a sigh.

"He got off easy. We were fifteen, he couldn't be tried as an adult. He got community service and then he moved away, his mom was too embarrassed I guess."

"I'm gonna kill him. That-that fucking _spineless, disgusting,_ I can't even think of any more adjectives I'm so pissed." he tightened his grip on her fingers.

"Hey, I told you that you can't get mad about it." her voice was soft and calm, and he looked up at her to see that she was okay. His eyes were trapped in the deep pools of chocolate that were her irises, soothing him and helping his brain calm down.

"I really can't help it." he snorted. "Any guy that even _thinks_ of laying a hand on someone who-I mean, I've gotten into a ton of fights, but I'd never _beat_ on someone who isn't hitting me just as hard." he snarled. "That's just… Bunny girl, if I had been around during that time you would have _known_ that I would kill him. I'd literally have killed him."

"If you'd have killed him then _you_ would be in jail." she reminded the mechanic.

"Who gives a shit. He doesn't deserve to let his slimy, awful ass prance around on this earth; he deserves to rot in hell. Even _that_ is too good for him."

"All I want in life is to never see or hear from him again. I'm usually okay, I just… I don't like to stay out too late or be by myself too often. My cleaning lady usually stays later if my dad is working so that I won't have to be alone." Lucy laughed, genuinely this time, not in self-pity.

"Bunny… I'm proud of ya. You don't really let this bother you, you really could, but… You're the toughest little shit I've ever met. Gihi." Gajeel squeezed her hands once more before standing. "Now, you said something before about the last one here having to buy the pizza?"

"I'm on it." Lucy grinned, pulling out her phone and dialing the pizza place. She felt all warm and fuzzy and light. The blonde was inexplicably happier around the mechanic.

Lucy ordered their pizza (hawaiian on half for her, meat lovers on the other half for him; they each thought the other was disgusting).

When it arrived they chowed down immediately, and it was Gajeel's turn to pick the movie they watched. They had been spending a lot of time doing just that lately, munching on take-out at the Redfox residence and watching movies. He played a horror film, and so they sat huddled together. The smell of pineapple from Lucy's half of the pizza left a tangy scent in the air, and Gajeel couldn't help but think that it complemented her scent nicely.

Lucy, however, wasn't thinking about the sweet air. No, she was in rapture/horror of the gory film that Gajeel chose for them to watch. She was too terrified to notice his arm snake around her, too frightened to realize she was slowly melting into his side.

But he noticed.

Gajeel continued to pull her tighter into his side, until she was nearly on his lap. The sun had slowly been setting, and most of the way through the flick it was nearly pitch black in his family room. This only seemed to freak Lucy out further, and Gajeel smirked before pulling his arm away. But she latched onto his strong bicep tightly, not letting him move an inch.

"Do you want me to turn a light on?" he whispered with mirth into her ear. She jumped at his hot breath fanning over the lobe, but she shook her head.

"I'm fine." she assured in a (mostly) normal voice. The movie was nearly over, so she only had to bear with it for a short while longer. She made it through the movie alright, but Lucy was half on top of him by the end of it. She didn't even watch the rest of it, her head was ducked into his chest and she clenched onto his black shirt tightly.

"Bunny." he chuckled as the end credits rolled up, ominous music filling the room.

"Is it over?" her voice was slightly muffled by his hard chest.

"Mhm." he absentmindedly stroked the back of her head. The glossy blonde locks felt like silk between his fingers.

"Good." she sighed, but they didn't dare move. In their bubble of space there were no teasing friends, no hidden feelings. They just had each other, and it was all they needed.


	11. Chapter 11

"Two days!" Levy shrieked in their homeroom. No one flinched at the sound, everyone was too busy buzzing about the prom and the after parties and the pre-prom parties and the dresses and music and shoes and hair and makeup. There was too much to talk about and not enough time, it seemed.

"I'm not ready!" Lucy groaned.

"Losing your virginity to Gajeel seems kind of scary." Levy pondered jokingly.

"Cut it out!" the blonde snapped at her friend, her knee bouncing nervously.

"You have to be nice to me! We're best friends." Levy pouted.

"Juvia heard that Levy and Jet went out for dinner last night." the other bluenette smirked at her comrade.

"Oooh, losing your virginity to _Jet_ seems kind of scary." Lucy teased back.

"No it doesn't!" the girl squeaked.

"Hey, Lucy!" Sting walked over, Rogue trailing behind.

"Oh, hey Sting." she greeted.

"I've been hearing a lot of people saying they are gonna vote for you."

"Funny, I've heard the same about you!" Lucy joked back.

"Good luck, I'll see you sometime soon! And thanks for helping me with chem, I really did appreciate it." Sting grinned.

"No problem, it was my pleasure!" Lucy waved as he and Rogue walked back to their seats.

"You two would be the _hottest_ couple." a girl sitting near Lucy sighed.

"What? No way." she laughed at the girl's comment.

"I'm serious! Two hot blondes are way better than one."

"Sting is dating Yukino." Lucy reminded the girl.

"Yeah, and Lucy is in _loooove_ with Gajeel!" Levy squealed.

"Hey, knock it off!" Lucy smacked the bookworm on the arm. Levy was literally saved by the bell, and so she jumped up and ran off, leaving her blonde friend to fume silently.

"Juvia thinks that Lucy and Gajeel are the cutest couple." her other friend beamed.

"Th-thanks Juvia…" Lucy blushed before speeding off to her next class.

…..

"T-minus twenty-four hours and thirty minutes until prom!" Lucy was nearly pulling her hair out at Erza's hourly phone calls. Even though the scarlet haired beauty was going to a different event, she still pestered Lucy to make sure she knew exactly when she had to be ready.

"Erza, I appreciate that you want me to know the exact time before prom," Lucy sighed into her phone, "but Levy and I really have to get our english papers done. If I don't finish it tonight I'm screwed!" the scarlet haired girl wasn't too happy with being dismissed, but she complied with Lucy's request and left them alone for the night.

Lucy and Levy worked hard to get their papers finished, and Lucy nearly wept with joy when she finished putting her last source into MLA format. It had taken nearly five hours to get everything organized, but it was complete.

"I've got two more, Lu!" Levy cried out.

"You can do it! I'll go get us some celebration snacks!" Lucy left her room and headed to the kitchen. She perused her refrigerator before deciding she and Levy would do well with some yogurt and fruit. Lucy cut up some strawberries and brought their food back up to her room, being careful to tiptoe past her dad's room as to not wake him up. It was way past midnight, and she knew how much her father cherished sleep after working hard all day. When Lucy got back to her room, however, she was surprised to see that Levy was no longer seated at the desk typing her paper. No, she was sprawled across Lucy's bed giggling evilly to a mystery object in her hands.

"Oh, Lu! You're back!" Levy turned innocently towards her blonde friend, hiding the object behind her back.

"Levy, what are you doing? Have you finished your paper?" Lucy set the bowls on the nightstand next to her bookworm friend.

"Yeah, I just did. Oh, by the way… Gajeel texted you." Levy produced the object from behind her, and Lucy realized it was her cellphone.

"Oh? What did he say?" Lucy leaned over to grab the phone from her friend.

"He asked what you were doing, so I replied for you." Levy handed the phone over. Lucy unlocked it and gasped at the conversation.

 _Gajeel:_

 _Hey, whats up?_

 _Lucy:_

 _Nothing much, just thinking about you 3 ;)_

 _Gajeel:_

 _...huh?_

 _Lucy:_

 _You and your cute ass_

 _Gajeel:_

 _What?_

 _Lucy:_

 _Don't deny that you think my ass is cute too ;)_

"Levy!" Lucy screamed. "Why would you - how could you - oh my god!"

"You needed a jumpstart! We all know how you feel about Gajeel, even Gajeel does!"

"No he doesn't! I mean, I don't have any feelings for him! We're just friends, Levy!" Lucy's face was turning red.

"Okay sure, keep telling yourself that. Gajeel is calling you." Levy pointed to the phone in Lucy's hands. The screen was lit up, revealing the contact picture for Gajeel (a candid of him after Lucy had French braided his hair). Lucy screeched and threw the phone to Levy. Levy merely snickered and pressed the green button that accepted the call.

"Levy!" Lucy yelled.

"Bunny girl?" Gajeel's voice filled the room.

"It was Levy!" Lucy let out another squeal.

"You can't blame me for telling the truth, Lu!"

"I have no idea what's going on with you two." Gajeel sighed over the speaker.

"It's her fault!" Lucy squeaked.

"Lucy thinks your butt is cute!" Levy defended herself.

"I told you that in confidence!"

"Yeah well Gajeel thinks your butt is cute!" Levy retorted to her blonde friend.

"Levy! I told you that _in confidence_!" Gajeel's voice rang out over the phone.

"Oh my god this is so embarrassing…" Lucy put her hands over her face.

"Speak for yourself, bunny." Gajeel grunted.

"Well, thanks for the chat Gajeel! See you tomorrow!" Levy laughed, then put the phone down.

"I'm going to murder you." Lucy moaned, flopping back onto her bed.

"And by the way, Lu, I finished my paper." Levy giggled.

"Finally!"

"I'm kind of upset though." the bluenette sighed.

"Why?" Lucy questioned, sitting up and grabbing her bowl.

"Because Gajeel didn't even _react_ when he thought you said his butt was cute." she groaned.

"Levy, he isn't interested in me." Lucy sighed, slumping onto her bed. She played with the ends of her hair, scrutinizing some split ends.

"But you're interested in him?" Levy replied hopefully.

"Well, yeah. He's just… the sweetest. Everything he does makes me so happy, I can't help but smile when I'm with him. He talks to me like a real person. Not just a cute piece of ass. But that doesn't matter, because he's not into me like that."

"Lucy." Levy whined. "He definitely does like you. A lot. You know that he barely let me get close to him before we all started hanging out, right? I think you know him best. Out of everyone. And not just in a friendly way either. He definitely cares for you, and thinks about how you feel about things. Not just himself."

"So? It's not like he's going to ask me out or anything." Lucy groaned angrily.

"Uh, do you want me to ask you out?" Gajeel's voice came through the phone still nestled in Levy's hand. Lucy shrieked, sitting up and clutching at her heart. Levy gave her a mischievous smirk.

"Y-you're still there?" Lucy stuttered, feeling a burning flush beginning on her ears.

"Yep, been here the whole time. Wasn't sure when to hang up." came his curt reply.

"Oh." Lucy felt unbelievably embarrassed. She wasn't sure what to say, since she had basically laid out her feelings for the guy. "I… um…"

"Get some sleep, it's late. We have shit to do tomorrow." Gajeel grunted. Lucy sighed in disappointment.

"You're not even going to ask her out?!" Levy squeaked in anger.

"Hey, don't get the wrong idea! I'm not the lame type of guy that asks chicks out over the phone. I'm classy. I'm going to do things right. Sweet dreams, bunny." and with that, Lucy heard him hang up. The dial tone confirmed it this time.

"You little witch!" Lucy leapt up, flailing towards her blue-haired best friend. "You did that on purpose!" she wailed, slapping her tiny friend on the arm. She simply smiled back, looking too content with herself.

"He's definitely going to ask you out now, Lu-chan. You're welcome! Now it's time to go to bed. I'm exhausted!" Levy leapt onto the bed and immediately snuggled under the covers.

"What about our snacks?" Lucy whined, holding up their bowls.

"Okay, an episode of The Office? Then we can eat our fruit and then that's it! We're sleeping."

"Two episodes?" Lucy pleaded.

"One!" Levy insisted, shoving a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth.

Two hours later, at three in the morning, the girls finally shut off the laptop and drifted off into an exhausted slumber.


End file.
